Eddie Huang’s pilot episode of Fresh off the Boat and Aziz Ansari’s episode “Indians on TV” in Master of None both are able represent how racial hierarchies are always present in society. Throughout history racial hierarchies have always been prevalent in constantly establishing white supremacy. Meaning that some racial group, is superior to that of the others around them. Fresh off the Boat is a show about a Taiwanese family emerging into the culture of Orlando, Florida during the 90’s. Master of None is based up a 30-year old actor in New York, Dev, played by the creator Aziz Ansari, who is simply trying to make it in the modern, multicultural city. Seeing how Master of None is based around south Asian culture while Fresh off the Boat is …show more content…
based around east Asian culture, one is able to see how the differences of their representational start help to establish meaning behind Asian American minorities in society. Both of these episodes clearly establish the racial hierarchies seen in the United States in regards to Asian-Americans. Through Master of None one is able to see how Fresh off the Boat is based upon racial hierarchies and the ideas of white supremacy. In the pilot episode of Fresh off the Boat, 11 year old Eddie Huang is obsessed with hip-hop and the culture of African-Americans. Which is seen as an art form in the sense that he viewed himself as an outsider in the realms of mainstream society. He is seen in the opening scene wearing a full set track suit with multiple chains wrapped around his neck, a snapback hat on his head, listening to his “idles” Biggie and Nas. The viewers are then able to see the Huang’s drive through their new neighborhood and notice that the only other minorities visible in the community are the mailmen, gardener, and a nanny. Following this the viewers continue watching until we follow Eddie into his new middle school. Eddie is then seen in a cafeteria run-in with the only African-American kid in the school, Edgar, because he considered him a rival since they were the only two minorities. However, the instant Eddie was called to the table filled with white “popular kids” he pounced on the opportunity. During this scene we see Eddie bonding with the white student over hip hop music and the shot goes to Edgar who shaking his head says, “a white dude and an Asian dude bonding over a black dude. This cafeteria’s ridiculous.” It is interesting to see how the relationship of interest in Black culture among the others, not involving the one Black student, is popular. This begins to make the problems of racial hierarchy visible in society. The viewers are able to see that through this interaction with Eddie and the white students, Edgar was still represented as the lonesome minority sitting alone. Even though he had been at this middle school longer and known these kids longer. Once Eddie sat with the white students and continued to bond over hip-hop music, the scene was cut short because the white “popular” students then saw his chinese food that “stunk” and claimed, “Ying Ding’s eating worms.” Eddie then sadly leaves their table red-faced and embarrassed. He then attempts to go sit back with the one other minority seen in the school and is then shut down by him, “there’s somebody more different than me. So it sucks a little less. For me.” One is able to exclaim from this scene that although both Eddie and Edgar are both minorities, having two of them makes it easier for one to be viewed as a little better than the other. They are not on the same level and their relationship with the rest of society is different in their eyes. Cutting to the next cafeteria scene seen in this pilot episode, the audience sees Eddie proudly moves through the cafeteria holding his “white” pizza lunchables box feeling confident and cool. He continues to get on line to microwave his meal and the audience can see that Edgar gets in line right behind him. Then, finally, when it’s Eddie’s turn we see Edgar cut in and shove Eddie to the ground. Edgar exclaiming, “Chinks get to the back!!” This moment in the episode Eddie begins to become dumbfounded while Edgar, is happy because he realizes he no longer is at the bottom of the food chain visible in the cafeteria. This scene in particular is very crucial in showing how racial hierarchy is being put into place. Once this scene ended the video cuts the the principal’s office where Jessica, the mother, and Louis, the father, are defending the honor of their son. Trying to explain to the principal that the way the he handled the situation was done poorly and he isn’t seeing the bigger picture. Both of the parents proud of Eddie for standing up for himself are all seen leaving the middle school, all close together sticking together, as a team. When examining the cafeteria scenes seen in Fresh off the Boat one can see how Eddie had more to gain with fighting the Black student, Edgar, than confronting the White “popular kids.” His response to racial slurs is reformed to how racism is institutionalized in this space.
He simply aspires to be friends with the white kids because he feels their racial hierarchy will get him somewhere. The use of racial slurs from both ends, and Eddie’s reaction to only one ends shows how the status of White people in a minorities eyes influences reactions in society. Racial slurs in general are designed to insult others on the basis of race, ethnicity, or nationality. From Eddies standpoint, hearing a racial slur from Edgar comes off worse because Edgar is also a minority and can relate to the societal hierarchy seen from white culture. While hearing one of the white “popular kids” use a slur term is more expected. Eddie feels that confrontation to the white kids will get him nowhere and won’t get any message across. It’s a complex situation that hits home because it plays out like it would in real life in this scene. That is, no humor, we see how much the word Edgar said impacted him and outraged him. Eddie simply responds this way because of white supremacy seen in society
then. In the episode “Indians on Tv” in Master of None, the viewers are able to see how indians tackle racial stereotypes while auditioning for TV shows. The episode opens up with Dev, the main character watching a telling and greatly edited montage of Indian stereotypes from film and television. After this the viewers follow Dev into an audition for an “unnamed cab driver” where he is expected to do an accent. The audience begins to see Dev’s frustration with Hollywood’s limited range of roles for Indians when he refuses to do the accent for this particular audition. Here the viewers see that the character begins working through complicated feelings and attempts to figure out what to do. Dev and his friend Ravi, both discuss how mainly all the roles they audition for call for accents, and for parts such as the IT representatives, cab drivers and gas station clerks. After both Dev and Ravi auditioned for a sitcom called 3 Buddies, Dev accidentally received an email thread from the producers of the show. These producers and executives, white of course, sent a chain where it states, “Who do you like better, Ravi or Dev?” Where the producer then responds, “I don’t know. Let’s meet them both and see who can curry our favor, hahaha.” Seeing this anti south-asian insult in full effect the audience begins to see the harsh reality for minorities on TV. During this scene Aziz Ansari, Dev, is seen having a meal with his friends Denise and Brian Cheng. Raged by this remark he begins to makes comments about Asian American representation in mainstream America. The three of them begin to talk about leaking the thread and making “private racism public”. Once the producer found out the email had been leaked he felt the need to make it up to Dev, and basically bribe him. The producer decide to take Dev to the knicks game and visit the VIP area.
Jedda, Australia’s first colour film, created in 1955 by Charles Chauvel deals with an Aboriginal child adopted by a white grazing family. As she grows up, Jedda is tempted more and more to return to her people. Seduced by the wild Marbuck, she partakes in the film's tragedy, played out against a spectacular landscape. This essay seeks to discuss the representations of the Australian landscape as portrayed in the film Jedda, highlighting the use of filmic techniques in these representations.
Both memoirs—John Griffin’s Black Like Me and Dick Gregory’s Nigger—examine race marginalization as it existed in mid-twentieth century America. Griffin’s Black Like Me intimately explores the discrimination against the black community by whites to expose the “truth” of racial relations and to “bridge the gap” of communication and understanding between the two races through a “social experiment”—an assumption of alterity (Griffin 1). In Nigger, Gregory also recounts personal racial discrimination as a black man trying to survive and succeed in a discriminatory society. But unlike Griffin’s experience, Gregory’s memoir progresses from a position of repressed “Other” to a more realized, dominant identity. However, the existence of a dual persona
Months before, a white football fan in a dusty little town watched #35 as he sprinted down the field; the fan did not really see some black kid, they saw a Mojo running back. Just like so many other fans, they cheer for the black and white jersey, not particularly caring about the color of the body it’s on. The fans saw #35 as the future of their much-exalted football team; the color of his skin seemed irrelevant. As long as he wore the jersey and performed every week like he should, they celebrated him as the Great Black Hope of the 1988 season. Now, injury has taken him from the game that he devoted his life to, and he is no longer #35. Instead, he is just another useless black kid who will never amount to anything in the rigid society that
After viewing the film Bamboozled by Spike Lee I feel as though he is suggesting that racial stereotypes will continue to be emphasized in television and other mass media outlets but as a way to provide entertainment. From a person working with the media’s perspective, many communities are growing towards becoming more diverse in which would lead them to think of an effective way to connect with a hugely diverse audience. Many races have common stereotypes that the media would use to connect with their audience on a personal level, sometimes it would be seen as offensive, but avoid conflict with their audience and maintain their image they would add comedic effect so it would only appear as a joke.
In the article “In Living Color Race and American Culture” Michael Omi expresses his attention on racism and how stereotypes have affected the way we
Racism is the discrimination which bases on skin color and race. Every person has the right to be equal. Why don 't you stop a minute and wonder that if you don 't like to be treated differently because of your skin color, then you should treat the others the same way as how you want them to treat you. “Brownies” by ZZ Packer is a short story about the contradiction between Brownies troop and Troop 909 at Camp Crescendo; it revolves around Daphne who is called "nigger" leading to Brownies decided to teach Troop 909 a lesson. In “Brownies”, Troop 909 and Mennonites represent modern thoughts, represent the way that the whites are changing, ending what they started from a long time ago - rule the blacks; Brownies troop represents a part of the
The movie 'Ethnic Notions' describes different ways in which African-Americans were presented during the 19th and 20th centuries. It traces and presents the evolution of the rooted stereotypes which have created prejudice towards African-Americans. This documentary movie is narrated to take the spectator back to the antebellum roots of African-American stereotypical names such as boy, girl, auntie, uncle, Sprinkling Sambo, Mammy Yams, the Salt and Pepper Shakers, etc. It does so by presenting us with multiple dehumanized characters and cartons portraying African-Americans as carefree Sambos, faithful Mammies, savage Brutes, and wide-eyed Pickaninnies. These representations of African-Americans roll across the screen in popular songs, children's rhymes, household artifacts and advertisements. These various ways to depict the African ?American society through countless decades rooted stereotypes in the American society. I think that many of these still prevail in the contemporary society, decades after the civil rights movement occurred.
Most avid comic book fans would agree that they were less than enthused when Marvel Studios decided to reboot the Spiderman movie franchise in 2012 – just 11 years after the quasi-successful run of the original trilogy (Proctor). As one of the aforementioned avid comic book fans, Marc Bernadin, writer for “io9” (a technology and lifestyle website), rightfully questioned this decision by stating, “in this day and age, does Spidey have to be a white guy?” (Bernardin). This question fueled an Internet phenomenon that forced creators and fans alike to re-evaluate the way that they see the characters they love so much in terms of their race. Media makers and content creators have an ethical responsibility to “represent the many facets of humanity” (Petrou, Jan. 27). ‘Race-bending’ is when a content creator dresses a character as someone of a different race, or changes the race of the character entirely from one race to another (Ibid). In this paper, I aim to explore the influence of social media on race-bending, as it applies to comic book culture and its meaningfulness to the fan community. My principle arguments will draw from an examination of the Marvel comic universe, the #donald4spiderman campaign and the “Amazing Spiderman” movie franchise in order to show that through the power of social media, we are changing the way we root for heroes regardless of their race or ethnicity– moving society forward as a progressive culture.
I watched the 1989 film Do the Right Thing produced, written and directed by Spike Lee. As the movie progressed, I identified with the character Tina because she too was a Puerto Rican. I did not realize that my ethnic identity was so salient but this makes sense because it is something you are faced with every day. By this I mean, some social identities can be changeable such as one’s religious preference, but someone's ethnicity cannot. Growing up, I constantly heard Spanish being spoken in my home, I noticed my meals were different than my friends, and cultural aspects such as a tight knit family were very familiar to me. All of these characteristics led to the development of my identity and thus why I can relate to Tina’s character. For
Many people in America like to think that racial stereotyping and racism is a thing of the past, but racial stereotyping is still prominent in America. Although racial stereotyping and racism significantly slowed down, it still remains a major factor in American society. In “The End of Post-Identity Television,” Aymar Jean Christian argues the fact that race is not a major factor in casting characters in a television series or a movie, he reveals that race is not relevant anymore. In Michael Omi’s “In Living Color: Race and American Culture,” he argues how racial stereotyping and racism still exist in America. The Cosby Show seeked to change racial stereotyping in television by portraying an upper-middle class African American family. The Cosby Show attempted to break barriers for African Americans in television and did so by paving the way for other major African American based sitcoms. “The End of Post-Identity
A poor, black man from the banlieue of France enters the world of a wealthy, white Parisian businessman – their lives represent opposite ends of the spectrum, and yet by a twist of fate, they form an inspiring relationship. The Intouchables is a story that follows Driss, the poor Senegalese immigrant, who by an unlikely chance came to be the caregiver of Philippe, the extremely rich aristocrat in which a paragliding accident left him quadriplegic. These two men are both pariahs of society: one via paralysis, trapped in the prison that is his body, and the other through classism and the lack of support that left him isolated on the fringes of Parisian suburbs. Despite this similarity, they nonetheless possess stark contrasts phenotypically and
The authors Michael Omi and Howard Winant go into detail about race, ethnicity, and the problems that associates with them. An example they used to define race and the problems that go along with it was the case of a woman named Susie Guillory, who was mixed race and wanted to change her racial identity from black to white. The result of the case was the court still defining her race as black. This case was an example of how defining race is still an issue, as stated by the authors. According to the Omi & Winant (2008), “Europeans wondered if the natives of the New World were indeed human beings with redeemable souls” (Omi & Winant, 2008, pg. 20). A biological definition of race has yet to be discovered. The belied is that race is an outside factor that determines how society view you as a human being. Society decides if you should be enslaved and limited to your rights or if you are worthy of being a free citizen.
The True History of the Kelly Gang is a fictional novel written by the Australian writer Peter Carey. The novel is presented as an autobiography written by the Australian bushranger, Ned Kelly, to his daughter. It portrays Ned’s life as a child and as an adult. The audience also reveals the struggles of discrimination he overcomes as an Irish in the Australian world. This novel is packed with many themes but the most obvious and eye-catching would be racism. We are also able to identify many quotes and passages used within the text to demonstrate this theme. Carey’s persuasive language and point of view plays a crucial part in promoting the theme of racism.
I completely agree with your explanation about race being socially constructed. Throughout history the physical features of someone has always had an impact on the way they were treated. Associating race with ignorant stereotypes, is what is causing conflict throughout different cultures. Like you mentioned about children, if you teach them that everyone may look different, but are all the same then they will grow up with an open mind and not judge others by the color of their skin. Teach a child that one “race” is better than the other, then that is when racism is created.
Despite many progressive changes, racism is still a major issue. No one is born racist, racism is taught and it is taught in popular culture. Younger generations are exposed to racism through popular culture; one of the many mediums in which racial stereotypes are still supported. Matt Seitz, in his article, “The Offensive Movie Cliche That Won’t Die” claims that metaphorically, in popular culture cinema, African-Americans are mentors of a white hero, but beneath the surface, it is racially offensive towards these mentors because they are still considered servants of whites. Michael Omi, in “In Living Color: Race and American Culture” adds to the claim of Seitz that racial issues in our society brought on by the media and popular culture. He